On the Road Again!

The day of the commemorations started early for three of the Ferry Crew. They had tickets to the Thiepval event and needed to be away about 5am for the park and ride by Albert Airport.   This made the decision to go to the Ulster Tower for the majority of us seem the best option. We could have breakfast in the hotel and then walk over to the station and get the train to Albert, where our shuttle buses would be waiting. No need for the park and ride. It would be less hassle for men but we had Claire and Elaine Constable in our team.  Ladies are less likely to be enamored changing in a field. As it was We got our tickets and the 0837 train to Albert.  Strangely there wasn't another train until 1137 and that was cutting it fine to get the shuttles as they finished at 1200. We had a few hours to kill before the first bus and there was plenty to do with displays etc. Plus the famous gilded tower that acted as a target for the German gunners and as a...

Sunday dawned quite early as it was very warm and humid overnight. I had the windows open but had to tie them together with my belt to make sure they stayed open but not blowing about. I packed and then went down a little too early for breakfast so took my bag out and loaded the panniers.  It was still alternating between warm and sunny and drizzle. When I went back in, David was up. He'd had a ground floor room facing the street so was unable to open a window. Amiens Hotel Breakfast at the Central & Anzac Hotel is dubbed continental, but it is far better than that might suggest.  So much to eat! Once Lainy came down we were ready to get going. The first stop of the day was to be the Australian Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.  The run wasn't too far from Amiens and once again we were in waterproofs.  When we arrived there was a coach from Slovakia and a large group of tourists ahead of us. Tourists sounds a bit "sniffy" but no meant that ...

It was an early start on Saturday for the ride to Dover to meet the rest of the group. Ken Fulton, who I have known for thirty years or so stayed over Friday night. The group numbered ten people; Alan and Sue, Frank, Cal, Ian, Ken, David, Elaine, Neil and me. The problem of keeping together never arose as everyone did a good job keeping an eye on the other bikes in front and behind, although we did occasionally get stretched out along the road. Once we had negotiated the ferry port and I then set the first part if the A26 cruising speed to approx 70mph, and then got through the tolls I upped to about 125kph or about 77mph. Keeping us below the dry speed limit of 130km or 81 mph.  In the wet the limit drops to 110km or around 68mph. In hindsight I should have plotted a route around Arras as we ended up going through the centre and the resultant traffic cost us valuable time.  The first stop was Serre Road Cemetery No2 to plant a British Legion Poppy...

Yesterday was the 97th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.  I was amazed that with interest building for the Centenary of the start of the Great War, that no one picked up on it for their news programmes. Claire and I have been across a number of times to visit the cemeteries and war graves of our relatives killed fighting on the trenches between 1914 and 1918. So I thought maybe in 2014 we could have a weekend there as a family commemoration and also mark the Centenary. There's plenty of time yet but an outline of the trip is forming in my mind. Our Somme connection is that one of my Grandfather's cousins is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Corbie near Amiens in the Somme region. William Devall was born in south London but was sent to join the Shropshire Light Infantry. The 7th Battalian was a service battalian, created for the war only. A notable comrade was Siegfried Sassoon the famed war poet wh...